Spark-plug.



L. A. SCHA UER & E. C. MYERS.

SPARK nus. APPLHZATION FILED OCT. 26. I9I6.

l 284', 15 l Patentd Nov. 5, 1918.

F151. FIRE.

LEQAE: CHAUER ERNEST C. MYERS. WITNESSES INVENTOR A TTO RNEY specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed ()otescr 6, 1916. Serial No. 12 565.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, Leo A. SCHAUER and Earns): C. il'li'nns, citizens f the United States of America, residingat Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new;

and useful Improvements in Spark-Plugs, of which the following is a specification.

l he present invention relates to improvements in spark plugs of the double-junipspark type, and has the following objects and advantages in View in its construction. In this ty1e the ignition spark within the engine cylinder is intensified by an auXiliary spark according to well established electrieal principles thus getting full expl value from the used. In our in\' ition .zho auxiliary spark i n'med within the plug itelt thereby obviating the necessity of extra intensitiers sometimes user for the same purpose. The auxiliary spark gay inclosed by a rire gauze which prei'euts saniol'roni igniting any surrounding explo sire gases that may be in the vicinity of the plug in ace-or; mice with a well known principle, and yet 15; readily visible to the eye, thereby furnishing a means whereby the oporatorcan ascertain whether the electric current is working properly within theengine.

The. small number of parts and the simplicity of their form and construction is an advantage, few parts being thereby provided that can get out of working order by vibration which is alwayspresent in some classes of engine" .With those and other objects in view to be explained hereinafter in this specification, we have illustrated in the accompanying drawings one complete embodiment of our invention constructed according to the best mode we have so far devised "for the practical application the principles of our invention.

Figure l is a central longitudinal section of our invention.

Fig. 2 is a View in side elevation of same.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on line 3--3 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4: is a bottom plan view of Fig. 2.

The spark plug consists of the following parts. A cylindrical housing 1, having a terminal or electrode 2, a porcelain plug body 3, or other insulation which fits into the housing 1, the latter ha ing annular shoulders t and The SllOtlltlc is pro tect e. try a, l in annular gasi'et 6, which last rests n the complementary annular shoulder 7 oi the housing 1. The housing 1 has the usual threads 8 for at lunent to the explosive chamber or an on ine. The porcelain 3 is secured in the housing 1 by a hollow coupling nut 9, with threads at 10 whereby it is attached to housing- 1 shown in the drawing. ii gasl-zet 11 is interposed between shoulder 3 of the porcelain 65 and the bottom surface of coupling nut 19. A. central conductor 12, pass s tlrrrmgcenter of porcelain 3, and i. 'noi'idoo a flange 13 formed thereon which ca 1 annular packing; ring 1%. The latter 1 flange 13 are adapted to lit into a. can y 15 formed in the base portion of the porcelain plug body 3. At its upper end c n luctor has a threaded portion 11.6 wli' carries nut 17, for the evident purpose of holdinc; 1'2 securely in the pi'ircelain 3.

The porcelain a has an aperture 153 whicl'i passes horizontally through the S21E10, and conductor 12 projects above the nut and into the aperture 18 for a purpose descri 1 below. It threaded conductor i3 is tioned in the upper end 720 percel and is seci'irod by the nuts 21, 22, e being" also used for adjustinei'it purposes.

A lock washer 2?, is interposed octween oh and cap 24, the latter being positioned on the end of 3 as shown. The lower eni Oi; conductor 19 projects into the a; hrs 18 in similar fashion to the end of conductor 12, and into intimate relation therewith, and so it is seen that the regulation of the t tauce between the electrodes at 33is rea I accomplished by nuts 21. and 1., i i u 25 is provided in the upper end conductor 19 for turning the same through nuts :21, 22. The lead wire 38 is inserted. in the open ing' 26 and is secured to the plug by The porcelain 3 has an annular SllOlLClQ. 28 and a portion 29 of reduced diameter, and over Which is fitted a cylindrical metallic Wire gauze 30, which last is held in place by the downwardly projecting ai'inular flange 31 of the cap 24. The bottom edge of the gauze 30 is reinforced by a metal c'rip as shown. It is a Well known electrical fact that it an auxiliary spark gap is introdueec into a circuit that the ignition sp other point say 34 in the circui tensiiied thereby. i that by introducing the spark at the i u spark and positive explosion of gas in the cylinder of the engine. The ignition sparkbeing intensified at 34 also has the effect of reducing the carbon deposit that ordinaril collects on the points 2 and 35 of the spar gap electrodes. The auxiliary spark gap 33 having air constantly between the ends 36, 37 of the conductors is thereby provided with the necessary air resistance at this point, which it will be understood,-wil l intensify the spark at 34, as before mentioned.

The metallic wire gauze 30 is for the dual purpose of preventing the ignition of surrounding gases, in accordance with a well known scientific principle, and also to enable the operator/to observe the auxiliary spark 'gap in order that the adjustments can bemade to 'suit varying conditions in the plug.

And. it also can be determined ifithe plug is firing. or not at theignition gap, due to the electric current working or not working properly. The advantage of being able to determine instantly by mere inspection of the auxiliary spark gaps on a series of plugs on the cylinders of an engine, is at once ap-- parent, and provides an index as to the working of'tlie electric current.

As an additional feature the metallic gauze is preferably oxidized so that the dark back ground of the gauze makes the auxiliary spark readily visible through the aperture 18. From the above description it is believed the operation of the plug is obvious.

One advantage of our invention lies in the fact that the auxiliary spark gap being located. in the plug itself, separatedevices usually used for the same purpose of intensifying the ignition spark becomes unnecessary and'the attendant extra expense for such intensifiers thereby eliminated.

Another evident advantage in our form of spark plug is the small number and simplicity of the parts used, which reduces the cost of manufactureand makes a less number of parts liable to become deranged by vibration incident to-- travel.

The intensified ignition spark prevents. accumulation of carbon on the electrodes within the engine cylinder, and 'iniires-an explosion of gas atthe proper tim e itl no' gas is thereby wasted," which is one form of economy of engine operation.

And lastly the wire gauze surroundin the auxiliary, spark gap prevents the spar at this point from igniting any surrounding? gases or fumes-that may be in the immediate vicinity of the engine and it willbe readily understood this is' an advantage in public garages or similar situations w en the plug is used on automobileengines- What we claim 'is':-

' 1. spark plug having an outer'housing and'conductors forming an ignition and an auxiliary spark gap, a single piece ins'ulating plug in said housing having a trans Verse aperture in its upper end accommo-- cap on the end of the insulating plug a 0115- said. I i

a 2. In a spark plug, a centrally dis osed one piece insulating plug having a reduced diameter portion forming a shoulder, a cylindrical metallic gauze thereon, a metal lie reinforcing ring mounted on the lower edge of the said gauzeand adapted to en age against the shoulder of the insulating pd a cap having an annular flange" adapted to receive the upper edge of the cylindrical gauze, and-means for securing the said cap .on the end of the insulating plug.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

. LEO A. SCHAUER. ERNEST C. MYERS. Witnesses:

JOHN F. SWEENY, RAYMOND J. GRAB. 

